Heats are underway in the U18 men’s 110m hurdles on Day 1 at the 2024 Legion National Youth Track and Field Championships in Calgary. [Stephen J. Thorne/LM]

100 images of the 2024 Legion National Youth Track and Field Championships: Part 2

STORY BY STEPHEN J. THORNE

There must be something in the water they give those athletes at the Legion National Youth Track and Field Championships.

The 2024 Summer Olympics was proof positive of the Nationals’ fundamental role in the rise of elite Canadian sports men and women—28 Legion Nationals alumni wore Canadian red and white in Paris, including bronze-medalist pole vaulter Alysha Newman of London, Ont., and golden shot putters Ethan Katzberg and Camryn Rogers, both B.C. natives.

And judging by three balmy August days of competition at the 2024 Legion Nationals in Calgary, the future looks bright.

READ MORE

More from Front Lines

• 100 images of the 2024 Legion Nationals: Part 1
• USS Pampanito: A genuine WW II relic on Fisherman’s Wharf
• Rare birds: The Canada Aviation and Space Museum’s WW I collection

Canadian infantrymen head toward Canal du Nord in September 1918. [Wikimedia]

Currie’s crossing: Remembering the Battle of Canal du Nord

STORY BY ALEX BOWERS

The Canadian Corps had cracked the Drocourt-Quéant Line, the Germans had withdrawn to their final defence at the Hindenburg Line, and the combined Allied forces under Marshal Ferdinand Foch sensed victory in the air.

But it wasn’t over yet—far from it.

Among the objectives still to wrest from enemy hands was the textile town and vital communications hub of Cambrai. The shock troops of General Arthur Currie’s corps would again be thrust into the fray, but first they needed to secure a crossing over the Canal du Nord before clearing Bourlon Wood en route to the prize. They also needed to break the well-prepared Marcoing defensive system. Brimming with machine-gun nests, it had the makings of a bloodbath.

READ MORE

More from Military Milestones

• A Gallant Force: Canadians in Operation Market Garden
• The Battle of Plattsburg: An Anglo-Canadian Defeat in the War of 1812
• My son in Spain: Canada’s last combat veteran of the Spanish Civil War

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U18 women run a heat in the 100m hurdles at the 2024 Legion National Youth Track and Field Championships in Calgary. [Stephen J. Thorne]

100 images of the 2024 Legion Nationals: Part 1

STORY BY STEPHEN J. THORNE

There must be something in the water they give those athletes at the Legion National Youth Track and Field Championships.

The 2024 Summer Olympics was proof positive of the Nationals’ fundamental role in the rise of elite Canadian sports men and women—28 Legion Nationals alumni wore Canadian red and white in Paris, including bronze-medalists pole vaulter Alysha Newman of London, Ont., and golden shot putters Ethan Katzberg and Camryn Rogers, both B.C. natives.

And judging by three balmy August days of competition at the 2024 Legion Nationals in Calgary, the future looks bright.

READ MORE

More from Front Lines

• USS Pampanito: A genuine WW II relic on Fisherman’s Wharf
• Rare birds: The Canada Aviation and Space Museum’s WW I collection
• In days of yore: How WW I rivals revived chivalry in war

ATTENTION CANADIAN MILITARY FAMILIES : Did you or a family member receive VAC disability benefits between 2003 and 2023?

On 17 January 2024 the Federal Court approved a settlement in a class action involving alleged underpayment of certain disability pension benefits administered by Veterans Affairs Canada (“VAC”) payable to members or former members of the Canadian Armed Forces (“CAF”) and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (“RCMP”) and their spouses, commonlaw partners, survivors, other related individuals, and estates (the “Settlement”).

If you received any of the disability-related benefits listed below at any time between 2003 and 2023, you may be entitled to compensation under the Settlement. As the executor, estate trustee, administrator, or family member of a deceased class member who collected VAC-administered disability benefits, you may also be able to claim on behalf of the estate.

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Wing Commander John A. Sproule, DFC of Toronto, Ontario, and Brandon, Manitoba, commanding officer of the Royal Canadian Air Force’s 437 “Husky” Squadron. [Canadian Virtual War Museum]

A Gallant Force: Canadians in Operation Market Garden

STORY BY ALEX BOWERS

Wing Commander John Alexander “Jack” Sproule of Brandon, Man., departed RAF Station Blakehill Farm on Sept. 17, 1944. His No. 437 RCAF Squadron—a part of No. 46 Group, RAF Transport Command—had been activated a mere three days before. Operation Market Garden would be their first-ever rodeo.

With only nine No. 437 crews ready at the time of departure, combined with two extra crews seconded to the Canadian flyers, each Dakota aircraft towed Horsa gliders that in turn carried members of 1st British Airborne Division. Their planned drop zone was the Dutch city of Arnhem. Aside from a scattering of flak fire, they encountered little opposition. It was just the beginning.

READ MORE

More from Military Milestones

• The Battle of Plattsburg: An Anglo-Canadian Defeat in the War of 1812
• My son in Spain: Canada’s last combat veteran of the Spanish Civil War
• Oakville’s Gamble: A Canadian Corvette vs. U-94

Member Benefit Partner

Learn more